Cambridge, MA, USA, February 22, 2000 Merrill Lynch Online: The Empire Strikes Back Report published by Celent Communications
In a new report titled !, Celent Communications analyzes the Internet strategy of the US brokerage giant Merrill Lynch, focusing on the services provided by Unlimited Advantage and ML Direct. The report also delves into the technology behind Merrill Lynchs Internet trading system and provides a high level view of the systems technical architecture. In preparation of this report, Celent Communications was given unprecedented access to materials at Merrill Lynch which were previously confidential.
Members of Celent Communications Retail Securities & Investments research service can be download this report electronically by clicking on the icon to the right.
According to the report, after years of hesitation, Merrill Lynch has finally established a coherent Internet strategy to take on the challenges posed by online brokers. By attracting the bulk of mainstream investors, who represent 85 percent of the retail investment community, Celent Communications predicts that by 2003, Merrill Lynch will occupy close to 25 percent of the online brokerage market in terms of customer assets.
As the online brokerage industry moves to the next phase of creating an online service which combines a comprehensive suite of online products with financial planning by financial advisors, Merrill Lynch has placed itself in an ideal position to capture a large percentage of the online market share, according to Sang Lee, the lead author of the report. Lee adds that with its compelling online service offerings, Merrill Lynch appears ready to challenge the online brokers on their own turf.
Octavio Marenzi, Managing Director at Celent, states that we are very pleased to have worked with directly with Merrill Lynch on this report, and to have been given exclusive access to both Merrill Lynchs business strategy, as well as the firms technology strategy vis-a-vis the Internet.
A Table of Contents is available online.
